This is some honest, realistic fiction here. If you really think about its it's downright scary when it's not even a horror novel! This made me think and feel different emotions and for that I I loved it.

Natalie and husband Tyler have moved into a new up and coming neighborhood and are expecting their first child. They have everything ready and are prepared. Natalie will take maternity leave from her job. Oliver comes and they are ecstatic. Natalie wants to be a good mom and Tyler will help, but Oliver is a difficult baby and things soon change. Natalie turns to a neighbor, Paul who is a stay at home dad.

This was quite the engrossing read, I stayed up until 1:30 this morning to finish it, I couldn't wait to see how it ended. Murphy writes so well, that this book brought back memories of when I had my own children, I could really relate. I could feel how exhausted she was and understood her attachment to Paul. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

As a mother, this book chilled me to the core. If you have ever had, lived with, or been around someone with a newborn, you know those early days are TOUGH. Painfully isolating even. This is what Natalie is experiencing all the trials of new motherhood and feeling depressed, alone, in pain, and questioning her new reality. [There should be some mention of trigger warnings for anyone who has had a traumatic birth via c-section, or even breastfeeding because for many women, including myself, that is no easy feat. ] Back to the book... Natalie's husband is struggling to emphasize. She takes a sabbatical to try and wrap her mind and body around her new life as a mother.
As she is out walking with her baby, Natalie meets Paul, her neighbor, who is a writer and also a stay-at-home dad. She quickly begins to trust Paul as he can calm her baby. However, what is the return Paul wants from his friendship with Natalie? What is Paul planning? Will Natalie catch on? Is she safe and is her baby safe?
This is such a fast-paced, tension-filled read that truly resonated with me. I cannot wait until this comes out in May.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nora Murphy, and Minotaur Books for the eARC. Stay tuned on Instagram @joyfullyoverbooked for this review closer to pub date.

As a new-ish mother myself, this book hooked me from the beginning!!
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Natalie is a new mom, living in a new home, in a new neighborhood with her husband Tyler. Dealing with postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, Nat is struggling as her husband goes back to work after his parental leave is up. Looking for a source of comfort and help during such a difficult time, Nat meets her neighbor, stay at home father Paul. Paul is married with an 8 year old daughter. Their friendship grows and Nat ends up relying on Paul to help her get her son to sleep and to help give her a rest. Jealousy rises amongst some of the characters and someone ends up dead. Who is it? And who did it? Could it have been Natalie during one of her psychosis episodes??
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Thank you so much @noramurphybooks, @netgalley and @stmartinspress for giving me the opportunity to read this before its release on May 30!!
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Nora Murphy’s newest book, The New Mother, combines an incredibly accurate portrayal of the struggles of being a new mom with a crime that is able to occur due to those struggles. Natalie is a first time mom with a son she adores but who doesn’t sleep. Soon Natalie starts forgetting things, having memory problems, and has such bad mood swings she feels like no one understands what she’s going through. Enter helpful neighbor Paul, who is a stay at home dad and befriends Natalie and makes her feel seen. What Natalie doesn’t realize is that Paul is going to use her to get away with murder and take advantage of her struggles.

I have to say I have read a lot of books that try to portray what it can be like to have a new baby and no one has come close to what Murphy has done. As she put at the end of her book, she hopes women feel “seen” and Ms. Murphy I personally feel just that.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

I was so looking forward to this novel based on how much I enjoyed Murphy's other book The Favor. This one, unfortunately, pales in comparison. I had no compassion or really even patience with the main character Natalie. The first 30 percent was so repetitive of her efforts and failures and perceived incompetence as a new mother. It seems 15 percent would have been more than enough to develop these character traits. Truly amazing that I kept reading. When the antagonist is finally revealed at 50 percent, I was mildly intrigued. Mildly. I really only finished this one due to feeling obligated to write a review since Minotaur/Netgalley had granted me access to the advanced copy. I do appreciate the ARC, I just can't recommend this one.

I enjoyed Nora Murphy’s The Favor so was excited to read her newest book The New Mother. MC Natalie is a new mother and having a hard time adjusting to that role. Her and her husband just recently moved into the new house in a new neighborhood; and now she has just had her first child.
After being overly tired from lack of sleep with the new baby, Natalie finds solace in her new friendship with the neighbor, Paul. The twists and turns start from the very beginning of this relationship! At times I wanted to reach into the book to tell Natalie to stop talking or don't leave him alone in your house! The rollercoaster ride that happens with all the twists is fast happening and once you get into this book you will not be able to put it down!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read this book

Nice little slow burn...

At first I thought this might be just another thriller about the grind of new motherhood and maybe an unreliable narrator.

But then?? Holy 'mokers was I wrong! Because when it takes off it soars and it had me compulsively turning pages until late into the night.

Loved it!

I think the illumination of the subject of postpartum depression was well done as it is a real and serious problem. As she did in The Favor, Nora Murphy is not afraid of addressing serious subjects. That being said, the repetition of Natalie’s actions made the book feel slow. I found Paul to be creepy from the start and knew he was up to no good, taking advantage of Natalie’s lack of sleep and forgetfulness.

This was a solid thriller and even though it wasn’t rife with twists, kept my attention throughout. I found myself sympathizing with the main character as she stumbled through new motherhood, all the while being tricked by a cunning neighbor. I will look for more books by this author in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The New Mother is the story of Natalie, who recently has given birth to Oliver and moved into a new house and neighborhood. She is exhausted, exasperated, frustrated and just plain overwhelmed with motherhood. In walks in the new neighbor Paul with his parenting expertise and gives Natalie the support and help she's not receiving from her husband. But he seems too good to be true and rarely does that turn out the way we think they will.
I loved this story! Thrilling and suspenseful, I couldn't put it down!

Man oh man, was that a struggle to get through. I found this book to be VERY sloooow and quite depressing at times. I couldn’t connect to the story and frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t put me in a reading slump.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

New mother Natalie Fanning, is exhausted, lonely, and overwhelmed as she struggles to care for her colicky son, Oliver. She’s unsure of her ability to care for her son, she’s always tired, she’s frustrated over what she perceives as her husband’s lack of help with the baby.

Then, on one of her walks through the neighborhood, she meets Paul Riley, a stay-at-home dad who is able to quiet Oliver with just a touch. A friendship blossoms, but Paul’s wife, Erin, is not particularly happy about it.

It isn’t long before Erin disappears; then comes the news of the discovery of her body in a wooded area near Natalie’s house.

How did Natalie become a central character in the investigation into the woman’s death? And who killed Erin?

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The telling of this tale alternates between Natalie’s point of view and Paul’s point of view. Early on, astute readers are likely to realize the truth about what is happening as the story unfolds.

The characters, all well-developed, are not particularly likable; many readers may find Natalie’s struggles uncomfortable. It seems rather unlikely for a new mother having so much difficulty not to have seen a doctor, not to have check-ups with her own doctor. Although readers who have been in similar circumstances will immediately recognize exactly what is happening with Natalie, her postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis remain undiagnosed through most of the story.

Largely, this is a tale of how Natalie copes with her new mother role; the mystery of the murder doesn’t appear until rather late in the story. But it’s not much of a mystery; readers know exactly what happened to Erin . . . and why. Still, for those who enjoy domestic tales, there is much to appreciate here.

Recommended

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley
#TheNewMother #NetGalley

Natalie is a new mother. She and Tyler have a new home and she has taken a leave from work to be with her son, Oliver. She breastfeeds and it seems that is all she does. Oliver rarely sleeps and Natalie never sleeps. She is jealous that her husband can sleep nights and gets to go to work. She is overwhelmed and terrified that she will do something wrong. Paul, her new neighbor seems to love babies and warmly welcomes her to the neighborhood. Paul is so good with Oliver, able to soothe him and give her a rest. Paul’s wife is the sole supporter of the family. Paul is a stay-at-home dad. Paul and his wife have long become merely roommates and she is not at all interested in him until she realizes Natalie is spending a lot of time with Paul. I liked this book but wish Tyler and Natalie could have sought counseling at the beginning. Their relationship suffered with her severe postpartum depression. When Paul’s wife is found dead, he has all the answers as to why the killer is Natalie. There is a lot of miscommunication in the book but the exposure of postpartum depression is done well.

Wow, wow, wow! Just because this book is a slow burning thriller, doesn’t mean anything! Couldn’t tear my eyes away from this book. This story about motherhood and what a mother goes through mentally/physically was so effective and realistic. Yes I couldn’t put the book down, but it was a little too slow burning for me. I was still wanting to know what was going to happen. Thank you Nora Murphy, NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC!

The future is bright for Natalie Fanning. Both she and her husband Tyler are on partner tracks at their respective law firms. They’ve just bought a beautiful new house in a desired part of town and, best of all, they have a brand new baby son, Oliver. Then everything screeches to a halt for Natalie. Oliver is a high strung baby. He cries constantly, startles at every noise and needs to feed constantly. Something has to give and it is Natalie. She falls into a depressing cycle of exhaustion and disordered thinking. Tyler tries to help but she rejects all his solutions. Enter Paul, the kindly stay-at-home dad across the street. Both Natalie and Paul narrate what comes next. Natalie is desperate for companionship while Paul’s needs are…different?

You will not be able to put The New Mother down. Nora Murphy paints a perfect picture of those joyful, confusing and terrible first weeks of motherhood when exhaustion rules and the pressures of being best at the new frightening job of baby care are all consuming. Paul is clever enough to take advantage of Natalie’s weakness but he is not quite as clever as he thinks. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Nora Murphy for this ARC.

I have never felt so seen in a thriller book in my life! I had terrible postpartum depression and anxiety and I never thought that I’d see myself in a character falsely accused of murder but I did! What a setup for a story (pun absolutely intended!) This was so good and well written, I didn’t want to put it down and it basically consumed me. Everything was so familiar to my postpartum journey, apart from the fiendish neighbor. I went back to work and was a complete mess. It was all so real and fantastically done!

Book Review

The New Mother by Nora Murphy

Genre: psychological thriller, domestic suspense

One sentence synopsis: A new mom with postpartum depression takes a sabbatical to stay at home with her new baby and befriends a neighbor she thinks is safe.

My thoughts: I have two children and being a new mom is HARD. Being a mom is hard period. Having a colicky baby is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone but, I never wanted to harm my baby. Some of the main characters thoughts about her baby made me feel some type of way. No matter how much my baby cried and I cried I just never had those bad thoughts. Personally that was a little hard to read when those would pop up. I know all moms are different though.

I also felt like both main characters were a bit crazy. The new mother was creepily obsessed with her neighbor. The neighbor just wanted to use her and the whole thing was a little sad. I didn’t feel any suspense from this one. Something would build up and I would think something crazy was going to happen but, it would fall a bit flat for me.

I think the writing is done really well and the idea of this one is good. I personally felt like the ending was rushed and I wanted a little more from the overall experience of reading The New Mother.

The New Mother will be out on May 30th 2023 and I think it would be a perfect read for a book club.

Thank you @minotaur_books books for this arc to review.

This one had so many great reviews so I was really excited for it. Unfortunately it wasn’t my favourite. It was very slow which usually doesn’t bother me too much but I couldn’t get into it. The main character Natalie was also way too obsessed with her newborn. I did like seeing the perspective of the new mom fear but I think it was a little over the top. The ‘thriller’ part of the book doesn’t happen till about 3/4 of the way through making it more of a drama than a thriller.

Thank you to NetGallery and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC.

Natalie Fanning can't sleep. She just gave birth to a son named Oliver who seems to cry all day and night. Natalie is struggling to adapt to the sleepless night, being away from work, and motherhood in general when she meets a neighbor named Paul. Paul is a stay-at-home dad and seems to instantly calm down her colicky baby. Natalie is happy to have someone help her so she can finally rest but Paul has his own hidden motives for helping Natalie. Soon after their budding friendship begins, Natalie discovers that her new pal may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

As a mother of two, this book instantly transported me back to the days of being a new mom. Having a career and being a mother is a struggle for all women so I could instantly connect to Natalie. The beginning was a bit too slowly paced for my taste but halfway through it began to pick up and I could not put it down until I finished it.

I really enjoyed Nora Murphy’s debut novel, The Favor and I found The New Mother equally as entertaining. I can see a lot of fans of domestic thrillers enjoying this one!

The New Mother by Nora Murphy Will be available on May 30. Many thanks to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy!